Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THERE WAS A BOY (VERSION 2), by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THERE WAS A BOY (VERSION 2), by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: There was a boy, ye knew him well, ye cliffs
Last Line: Mute - for he died when he was ten years old.
Subject(s): Boys; Death - Children; Death - Babies


There was a Boy; ye knew him well, ye Cliffs
And islands of Winander! -- many a time,
At evening, when the stars had just began
To move along the edges of the hills,
Rising or setting, would he stand alone,
Beneath the trees, or by the glimmering lake;
And there, with fingers interwoven, both hands
Pressed closely palm to palm and to his mouth
Uplifted, he, as through an instrument,
Blew mimic hootings to the silent owls,
That they might answer him. And they would shout
Across the watery vale, and shout again,
Responsive to his call, with quivering peals,
And long halloos, and screams, and echoes loud
Redoubled and redoubled; a wild scene
Of mirth and jocund din. And, when it chanced
That pauses of deep silence mocked his skill,
Then, sometimes, in that silence, while he hung
Listening, a gentle shock of mild surprise
Has carried far into his heart the voice
Of mountain-torrents; or the visible scene
Would enter unawares into his mind
With all its solemn imagery, its rocks,
Its woods, and that uncertain heaven received
Into the bosom of the steady lake.

Fair are the woods, and beauteous is the spot,
The vale where he was born: the Church-yard hangs
Upon a slope above the village school,
And there along that bank when I have passed
At evening, I believe, that near his grave
A full half-hour together I have stood,
Mute - for he died when he was ten years old.





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